


Time Can Do So Much

by Daretodream66



Category: Captain America (Movies)
Genre: Astronaut Bucky Barnes, Astronaut Carol Danvers, Astronaut Sam Wilson, Bucky Barnes & Sam Wilson Friendship, Captain America Steve Rogers/Modern Bucky Barnes, Carol Danvers is a Good Bro, Christmas Fluff, Crush at First Sight, F/M, International Space Station, JARVIS is also a BAMF, Jarvis (Iron Man movies) is a Good Bro, M/M, Rebecca Barnes is a good sister and friend, Sam Wilson Is a Good Bro, Timelines a little iffy, Tony Stark Is a Good Bro, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Valentine's Day Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-09
Updated: 2019-12-09
Packaged: 2021-02-26 02:40:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 13,279
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21726166
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Daretodream66/pseuds/Daretodream66
Summary: The crew of the International Space Station send a Christmas greeting to the world and Steve develops a crush that turns into something bigger.
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes/Steve Rogers, Rebecca Barnes Proctor/Original Male Character(s)
Comments: 25
Kudos: 355





	Time Can Do So Much

Christmas in Outer Space

Steve hears Clint yelling from the common room. His mission is to pop the popcorn because apparently he’s the only one that can make the good stuff on top of the stove instead of in the microwave. He finished the white chocolate, hazelnut bowl and is working on the garlic/parmesan now. “WILL YOU HURRY UP!”

Clint’s been yelling at him for the last 20 minutes and Steve’s ready to abandon the popcorn. “You wanted popcorn! I’m making you popcorn! Stop acting like an impatient kid on Christmas morning.”

Natasha comes strolling in, smirking as usual. “He is an impatient kid and it is Christmas morning.”

“I HEARD THAT!” Steve shakes his head and Natasha turns back to the living room.

“I MEANT FOR YOU TO!” That gets a chuckles from the super soldier. “You’re happy this morning.”

Steve doesn’t answer immediately and gives a half shrug. “Well, we’re all here and it is Christmas and by agreement Tony didn’t go overboard and we’re all together with no earth shattering emergency, so yeah, I feel pretty good today.”

“It starts in 5 minutes and I will not have JARVIS record this. You’re going to miss it and I’m going to laugh at you.” Clint is acting petulant, but Steve also knows that he’s just giving them a hard time because it’s fun.

“Keep your pants on Barton! This batch will be done in like two minutes.” The lift dings and everyone else comes flowing into the room finding a seat wherever they can.

Just after Thanksgiving the team decided that Christmas was going to be treated like a family affair. There would be no big parties, thank you Tony, there would be no over the top Christmas presents, again, thank you Tony, and there would just be them and no outside anyone, thank you everyone. Steve, of course, didn’t need to struggle to agree to any of this. He didn’t know anyone outside the team, he didn’t like to spend money, even though he had it, and he especially didn’t like parties, no Tony, it isn’t a fear of crowds, it’s not wanting to be stared at like an exhibit at the zoo. 

So, they had decided to just enjoy the day with good food and good friends. Then, a week before Christmas it was announced that the crew of the International Space Station was going to broadcast a special message for the holidays. Steve was thrilled because he loved space and star gazing and the romanticism of being an astronaut. That’s how he finds himself strolling into the common room, two huge bowls of popcorn, and wearing his puppy pajama pants and an Iron Man shirt. Clint grins and makes grabby hands at the bowls. Steve hands one over and goes to sit next to Natasha, who cuddles into his side. Wanda takes a seat between his legs on the floor and reaches up behind her head, without looking, to scoop up a handful of white chocolate popcorn with hazelnuts.

“I don’t know how you do this, but I’ve never had anything this good before.” She’s shoveling the handful into her mouth as Natasha sniggers at her.

“It’s really not that hard and any one of you could do it.” The room looks aghast at him.

Tony slides over the back of the sofa next to Clint, who tries to pull the bowl away. “Gimme some of that!” Clint tries to wrestle the bowl away again. “And anyway Cap, if we learn how to do this, why would we keep you around?”

Steve snorts. “And here I thought it was my winning personality and the ability to keep the rest of you out of trouble.”

Thor barks a laugh and elbows Bruce. “Our Captain is quite full of himself today.”

“I don’t know if it’s being full of himself if at least half of what he says is correct.” Bruce looks at Steve who isn’t sure which part the good doctor is referring to.

Clint waves his arms. “Everyone, shut it! It’s starting.”

He unmutes the TV from the announcers and their rambling commentary as the screen displays the members of the current crew of the ISS. Everyone is smiling and one of the astronauts starts talking.

“Thank you for joining us today. Central command tells us that we have over six million viewers. On a day meant for family, we’re honored that you chose to spend some time with us.” All heads look off camera and the same man, who Steve has to admit is very handsome, but only to himself, calls off to the side. “Colonel!” There’s no response. “Barnes! Get over here, we’re starting.” The rest of the crew chuckles. “You’ll have to pardon our commander, he got caught up in a repair this morning and gets sidetracked easily.”

A second voice, from off screen, calls back. “I’m coming you ungrateful lot!” A man comes into frame and Steve nearly drops the popcorn he was about to put in his mouth. He’s…well…Steve can only think one word…beautiful. His hair is waves of dark brown, shorter on the sides and long on top. His eyes sparkle and Steve’s willing to bet that isn’t from a camera angle. He’s never seen a color like that before because depending on how the commander moves, they seem iridescent blue, but change to a pale grey. His lips are full with a pronounced cupid’s bow and his nose is crinkled from his smile. There’s scruff on his face that Steve would really like to run his hand over. He’s not big, not like Steve, but he’s muscular with a strong jaw and cheekbones that are more defined than Steve’s whole life. The man stops and smiles wider at the camera. “Hi everyone, I’m Commander James Barnes and these guys, as ungrateful as they seem, are the best crew a guy could ask for.” The rest of the crew aww’s at that, but it’s obviously sarcastic. “I changed my mind, they’re just ungrateful.”

“Come on man, you know you love us.” The original speaker slides in next to the commander. “Hey everyone, I’m Lt. Sam Wilson and this lovely person,” He indicates the woman next to him. “is Captain Carol Danvers.” She waves at the video feed.

James grins at the rest of the crew and introduces everyone. “We wanted to wish everyone a happy holiday and for some of us, we want to wish our families a special message.” Sam talks about and to his mother and aunts, while Carol wishes her wife and daughter a Merry Christmas. Each member of the crew in their turn gives a special message to their family and friends. The camera comes back to James. “I made a promise to my sister, Becca, that if we were able to do this broadcast that I would sing her favorite holiday song, so these guys are going to help me out.”

Each of the crew grab instruments, one on a keyboard and everyone else with guitars and a soft melody begins. Steve thinks he knows the song even though it was well after his time. He’s heard it since coming out of the ice and likes that it reminds him of the music that he remembers from his childhood. James begins singing in a soft, gentle voice that seems to fit his personality. Steve can’t really say why he thinks that at his heart James is shy and soft spoken, but that’s the impression. He sits forward on the sofa and it doesn’t go unnoticed by Tony.

James’s voice is deep and rich. It reminds Steve of some of the singers from his day, the ones from the clubs with no names and secret knocks with passwords. Steve loses himself in the melody and words of long ago holidays with his mother. 

By the time the song ends, none of the Avengers are speaking or moving. Steve is mesmerized by the whole thing. James has tears in his eyes when he’s done and Sam claps him on the back. “You did good.”

James sniffles and looks up at the camera grinning. “That’s for you, Becs. Miss you every day. Love you kid.”

Sam steps in to give James a minute to gather himself. “We wanted to tell everyone at home and all over the world that we’re having a great time, but we miss all of you.”

James steps back in. “I also wanted to give a really special Merry Christmas or Hanukkah or Kwanza or whatever it is that each of you celebrate to the Avengers.” The room, which had started to go back to eating, stops again. “About four months ago there was a terrorist attack in London and my sister Rebecca Barnes was there on business.” He gets choked up for a minute, but gathers himself quickly with Carol’s hand on his shoulder. “If not for Captain Rogers and Ms. Romanoff, she would have…perished. So, thanks to the Avengers and happy holidays.” He gives a small wave and the screen goes black.

The transmission is just under 30 minutes, but when it ends and the announcers come back on, the room is silent. No one is looking at each other and a few eyes, including Steve’s, are a little misty. Tony stands, clapping his hands and rubbing them together. “Well, that was unexpected.” There are small nods and after a few minutes, Clint steps in to cut the tension.

“I say we watch the best Christmas movie ever.” The rest are thankful that he’s taking charge.

“And what would that be and I swear to Thor if you say Die Hard, I’m shoving you back into the vent.” Thor bellows with laughter at Natasha’s threat.

Her statement makes the super soldier chuckle. “I’ve never seen that one.” He looks over at Clint. “I think we should watch it.” The rest of the room groans while Clint leans over the arm of his sofa to fist bump Steve. “For no other reason than it’s part of my ongoing education.” He winks at Clint and the archer barks a laugh.

They spend the rest of the day laying around and watching any and all movies that each believe Steve needs to see. Thor enjoys them just as much and Wanda curls up next to the god of thunder. When Steve returns to his floor later that night, he picks up his StarkPad and looks up James Barnes. He hasn’t been able to get the man out of his head since seeing him. He doesn’t know if that makes him obsessive or creep or maybe both.

He finds the bio on numerous websites, one of which is Stark Industries. Reading through, he tries to think of a way to bring it up with his teammate without causing suspicion. What surprises him is that Tony didn’t say anything during the broadcast or even after. Still, Steve knows that if he asks Tony about the man, the billionaire will start harassing him about it.

Instead, he does the next best thing. “JARVIS, can you tell me about Colonel James Barnes and his association with Stark Industries?”

‘I can indeed, Captain Rogers. Colonel Barnes, with the help of Mr. Stark, developed the new water and air filtration systems being installed on the International Space Station. He lived in the Tower for a time before you came back from Washington. He is leading the crew of the ISS in installation of these systems.’ There’s a pause. ‘I might also add that Mr. Stark was quite impressed with Colonel Barnes’s intellect and ability.’

“So, he’s really smart and a friend of Tony’s. Probably not a good idea then.” Steve knows that Tony gets very protective of his friends inside and outside of the team. He also knows that Tony doesn’t have many people that he considers friends outside the team.

‘If you wish to have more information, sir, perhaps asking Colonel Rhodes would be a better idea.’

And suddenly, Steve’s happy again. “Colonel Rhodes knows Colonel Barnes?”

‘They served together before Colonel Barnes joined the space program, along with Captain Danvers and Lt. Wilson.’

Steve shoots off a text to Rhodey for the next time he’s in the Tower. He gets a thumbs up in reply. The next search he does is for Rebecca Barnes.

That’s how Steve finds himself standing outside of a brownstone in Brooklyn wondering about his recent life choices. This is such a bad idea, but something makes him press the bell anyway. What he hears makes him laugh before the door even opens.

“I swear to god Ian, if I have to shove the dirty diaper in your face, you will change one before this child is out of them.” The woman that opens the door has a baby in her arms that’s just under a year, if Steve’s making a guess. She looks like she wants to throttle someone and the baby is grinning with a blanket in her tiny grasp. The woman stops, stunned that Captain America is on her stoop. “Uh…”

The baby reaches out nearly vaulting herself out of her mother’s arms and Steve’s reflexes are good enough that he catches her. He can smell the offending diaper situation, but can’t help but smile at the little girl, who has brown curls and big blue eyes. “Well hello to you too.” That makes her giggle and her mother finally finds her voice again.

“Oh god, I’m so sorry. She’s usually a lot more stand-offish with strangers.” She tries to take the little one back, but tiny hands hang on to Steve like a lifeline and Steve is perfectly happy to hold her a little longer.

“Ma’am, she’s just fine if you don’t mind me holding her.” Steve tickles her belly and the little girl laughs.

Rebecca melts at the sound. “I don’t mind, I mean if she’s safe with anyone, it would be Captain America.”

Steve extends his hand. “Steve, please call me Steve.”

She takes his hand, grinning. “Steve…well then you have to call me Becca. Everyone does.” They make it inside and whoever Ian is, he’s nowhere to be seen. Steve does notice that Becca walks with just a barely there limp, but doesn’t ask in case it’s from her time in London. Before Becca can stop him, Steve has the little girl on the changing table in an alcove off the living room. She tries to stop him, but Steve just talks to the little girl as he’s cleaning her up. “Ian, get your ass in here. If Captain America can change your daughter’s diaper, I think you can man up and do it too.” 

A man comes skidding into the living room in sock feet and gapes at Steve. “Holy shit, Captain America is changing my daughter’s diaper.”

Steve turns around with the baby and a huge grin. “It’s not so bad when you’ve been covered in alien goo once or twice.”

“Maybe you should go out and fight a few aliens and then you won’t be afraid of your daughter’s poop.” Becca stands with her hands on her hips, glaring at the man. “Go get your daughter you big baby and fix her lunch.”

Steve can’t help the smile that seems to be living on his face now. As Ian takes the baby, still looking at Steve in awe, the super soldier extends his hand. “I’m Steve.”

Ian clumsily takes Steve’s hand, stammering over his words. “Can I…wow…so, like…I can call you…Steve?”

Steve barks out a laugh and Becca shakes her head in exasperation. “He just told you to call him Steve. Jesus, I’m married to an idiot.” But she leans in, kissing the man quickly and Ian scuttles out of the room to take care of his daughter. Becca indicates the sofa and they sit. “My daughter judges you worthy, so I have to accept you.”

Steve chuckles again. “I feel privileged to have her approval.”

“Oh you should, she really doesn’t take to other people. What she did with you was a first.” Becca sits back, leaning her head on the sofa and closing her eyes. “What can I do for you Steve?”

Now he’s nervous again and questioning what brought him here. “I saw your brother’s message on Christmas.” She opens her eyes. “I wanted to check and see if you were okay.”

She pulls up her pant leg, showing Steve a prosthetic that explains the limp. He closes his eyes in shame. “Oh now stop that.” She reaches over, smacking his leg. “If not for you and Black Widow, I would have lost all of me. This…” She smiles down at her leg. “This lets me take my daughter for walks and dance with my husband. Steve, you saved me that day and pulled me to safety. I’m alive because of you. A leg is just an appendage that can be replaced.”

He blushes and wants to hug this woman. “You’re very kind.”

That causes her to snort. “My husband would disagree with you.”

They talk for a time and Ian finally joins them with a half asleep baby on his shoulder. When he leaves the room to put the baby down for her nap, Becca looks over at Steve. “Why did you really come here?” He starts to defend his earlier reason, but she just gives him a look that his mother used to give him. He decides that when a woman gives birth, they must pass that look out at the hospital. “Don’t get me wrong, I think checking up on me was part of the reason, but not the main one. Talk to me.”

Steve has no idea why this woman has been able to worm into his heart, but she’s so positive and optimistic and it seems to be overtaking him. “I came because of your brother.”

She turns on the sofa, resting her arm on the back of the couch and looks at him searchingly. “What about my brother?”

Suddenly, Steve can’t sit still and gets up to pace. Hands on his hips, he weighs what he can say or maybe even ask that will make this seem less creepy to her. “I saw…he was just so…I have no idea what I’m doing here.” Pulling his hands down his face, Steve looks up at the ceiling.

“You like him.” She’s smirking, but instead of it being the way Natasha and Tony smirk, with just a slight amount of malice, there’s humor and kindness.

“I don’t even know him.” It’s just barely above a whisper, but she grins anyway.

“Step one, Steve, is acknowledging the attraction.” She waits and he gives a miniscule nod. “Okay then, I can tell you that he would like you too. Anyone that Abbey deems okay, he will too.” Steve stares at the floor, almost afraid to look up, but when he does, it’s through his lashes. She snorts a laugh. “And if you look at him like that, he’ll be putty in your hands.”

Steve returns to the tower with Becca’s number in his cell and a plan for his next move. He goes straight to Tony’s lab where he finds the mechanic working on something, god only knows what. Tony looks up grinning. “Well, well, well, Capsicle! What brings you here?”

Steve doesn’t second guess Becca’s plan and just response. “I think we should put a call into the ISS.”

Tony freezes in mid-creation. “Uh…” He looks up at Steve like he’s not sure he’s seeing him. “Run that by me again.”

“I was thinking today that we were thanked for a personal rescue and I want to let him know that the Avengers appreciate what he said.” The next part is all Becca. “Plus, I have always loved stargazing and this is kind of selfish of me, but I want to talk to an astronaut. Someone that gets to go to the stars and all that.”

“You do know that Thor travels through space when he comes here, right?” Tony’s watching him and trying to puzzle out if he’s getting the real story, so Steve does exactly what Becca told him to do.

“Yeah, but Tony, these are humans, working together to make our own place among the stars. Don’t you find that amazing?” He lets out his inner child and the excitement is evident.

“Wow Cap, I didn’t peg you for a geeky space nerd, but you wanna talk to an astronaut, I’m all over that. I’ll make a few calls and get the right connection for you.” Tony goes back to work. “Who knew Captain America would be a NASA fanboy.” He says it to himself, almost, and Steve grins walking out of the lab. 

He sends off a quick text to Becca. _‘He bought it.’_

_‘Never doubt me, Rogers. I’m as sneaky as you’ll ever find. Just ask James when you talk to him. There’s a reason that he spent so much time grounded as a kid and I never did.’_ Steve barks out a laugh and goes to his quarters to figure out what the hell he’s going to say to this man.

He spends three days, pacing, talking out loud to himself, and trying to figure out what it is about James Barnes that draws him in. More than once JARVIS has asked after him, pacing and talking to one’s self seems to be alarming, but each time Steve tells the AI that he’s fine and just trying to work through a problem. On the third day, Steve is talking again to himself while making coffee.

‘Captain Rogers perhaps if you explain your problem, I could be of service.’

Steve stops the motion of the spoon, tapping it on the side of the cup, and takes a deep breath. “I appreciate that JARVIS, but this is private and I don’t want anyone else knowing.”

‘Are you saying you wish Blackout Protocol on this conversation?’

Steve stares at the cup and the soft whirling motion of the coffee. “I don’t know what that means.”

‘Sir wrote an algorithm into my programming that allows any one of the Avengers to call for Blackout Protocol should they wish to research with no one else aware.’

Steve turns, leaning on the counter, cradling the coffee cup. “So, if I wanted your help working through this problem and didn’t want anyone to know, including Tony, I just ask for Blackout Protocol?”

‘Indeed Captain.’

“JARVIS?”

‘Sir?’

“Blackout Protocol.”

‘Your communications are secure, sir.’

Steve has no idea how much help JARVIS can be, but he needs to say some of this out loud. Talking to himself only gets him so far, now he has, at the very least, a sounding board. “JARVIS, I think I have a crush.”

There’s a pause and Steve wonders if somewhere in his programming if JARVIS is laughing to himself. ‘Indeed sir, how can I help?’

“I don’t know that you can, but maybe if I can just say it I won’t feel so…” He doesn’t know what he’s feeling.

‘Confused? Unsure? Overwhelmed?’

Steve lets out a deep breath. “All of the above. I don’t even know the guy, but something about him just pulls at me. I got an indication from his sister that he might like me. I just don’t know if this is a good idea.” Steve sighs heavily with sagging shoulders. He carries his coffee into the living room and starts pacing again. “Hell, people don’t even know that I like guys; everyone thinks I had some great love affair with Peg and that’s fine, but it wasn’t like that. She had Angie and I had a really great friend that I didn’t have to worry would ‘out’ me.”

‘Are you concerned that the team will think less of you, Captain?’

Steve thinks that through for a minute, chewing on the inside of his cheek. “Yeah, I guess I am. We’ve found a nice balance for working together. But some of them think they know more about me than they do. I mean, Nat won’t stop trying to fix me up and Tony just teases me about being a old fashioned. I just want to be able to do this, get to know him without anyone getting into my personal business.”

‘Captain, if you wish, when Mr. Stark secures a channel, I can treat all of your communications as Blackout.’

Steve throws himself onto the sofa, leaning back, and closing his eyes. “I would really appreciate that.” Steve doesn’t question how JARVIS knows how to talk him down from his ledge, but comes to the conclusion that the AI has probably had to do the same for Tony once or twice. Later in the afternoon, Tony tells him that the communication is set up and ready.

Not everyone is in the Tower when they put the call through. Nat is there, along with Tony and Wanda, so Steve sits on the sofa in the common room, surrounded by only those team members. He knew that the first communication would be with more than just himself, but he feels edgy that they might figure this out. Taking a deep breath, they wait.

The first face they see is Sam Wilson, who’s grinning like a loon. “I’ll be damned. They told us we had a call, but didn’t tell us who.”

Nat elbows Steve, who jumps slightly. “Lt. Wilson, I hope we aren’t interrupting anything important.”

Sam just grins bigger. “I think we can make time for the Avengers or part of the Avengers.”

Nat chuckles. “Well, I’d say we’re the important ones.” She winks in a conspiratory way.

Sam laughs. “Yes ma’am, I’d say you are definitely one of the important ones.” The way his says ma’am, with a flirtatious edge, makes Nat smirk and he returns her wink.

“Oh, I like this one. Can we keep him when he gets back?” That makes Sam bark a laugh full of joy.

Sam looks off to the side. “Hey Barnes, that call came through and you won’t believe who’s on the other end.”

James comes into frame and Steve nearly stops breathing. Sam is talking with Barnes and the other Avengers are adding tidbits of information, then James turns locking eyes with Steve. Tony jumps in before Steve can say anything. “Bucky, when are you getting back? DUM-E misses you.”

“Oh yeah, I’m sure he does. What did you do in his programming that gave him that obsession with fire extinguishers?”

Tony snorts. “That was not my fault. You set a fire, he was helping out.”

“I didn’t set the goddamn fire, Tony. You just don’t know how to use a blow torch.” Everyone laughs, but Steve just keeps staring at him. 

Since the serum, the only time that Steve’s heart beats double time is in battle, a product of adrenaline, but watching James has it doing just that. The way he smiles, with that crinkled nose and laugh lines at the edge of his eyes, his eyes shining, Steve’s sunk before he even knows the man. The conversation slows and Wanda nudges Steve. Steve jumps again, but clinching his fists gets himself under control.

“Captain Rogers, you wanted this call?” James hasn’t stopped staring, but now his head is cocked to the side, like he’s working out a puzzle.

“Oh…uh…yeah. I just…I went to see your sister.” James seems surprised by that. “I mean, after your message at Christmas, I was worried, so I went to check on her.”

James’s face goes so soft at that. Steve watches it happen and everything in him relaxes. “That…you didn’t have to.”

“It’s not very often after something like that we get the chance to…I just needed to know that she was okay.” Everything around Steve disappears. “Your niece is a charmer.”

James chuckles. “She is if you can get to her. She’s been a little standoffish since Becca’s accident.”

“That didn’t seem to be a problem. She practically launched herself into my arms at the door.” All around him, Steve is unaware that the team is looking at him confused and amused.

“Well if she did that, I’m going to have to trust that you’re a good person. She doesn’t like people outside the family.” Steve snorts. “I’m guessing Becca told you that?”

“Yeah, she mentioned it while I was changing Abbey’s diaper.” Natasha, Tony, and Wanda watch the interaction in fascination. 

“Oh my god, tell me that someone got a picture of Captain America changing my niece’s diaper.” Steve can hear Sam snort off to the side.

“If anyone got a picture it was probably Ian. He seemed a little star struck though, so probably not.” 

Sam sticks his head back into frame. “Pictures or it didn’t happen, Rogers.”

“How do you even know how to change a diaper?” Tony’s been uncharacteristically quiet this whole time.

Steve finally remembers that there are others around him. “Oh uh, I learned as a kid. Sometimes I would babysit for neighbors.”

Sam’s head comes back into frame again. “Can you cook?”

Steve thinks it’s a strange question, but grins. “I took some cooking classes when I settled in, so yeah, I’m a pretty good cook now.”

Sam elbows Barnes. “He’s the perfect guy, literally, huh Barnes?” James lowers his head and seems to whisper something to Sam, who just laughs and goes off frame.

The flush that travels up James’s neck and onto his face is a beautiful thing to watch. After clearing his throat, James looks back up. “Thank you for checking in on Becca. That means a lot.”

“It was my pleasure.” A few last pleasantries are exchanged and the connection goes black. Steve is so beyond fucked at this point. So very fucked.

The following day, he’s sketching and before he knows what he’s got, there’s James’s face staring back at him. “oh boy, Rogers, you have a problem.”

‘Captain Rogers, Ms. Romanoff wishes access to your floor.’ Steve is about to stand when the AI continues. ‘I should also inform you that you have a communication. Would you like it on screen?”

“Who is the communication from, JARVIS?”

‘The ISS, sir.’

Steve jumps up, sitting the sketch pad aside. “Blackout Protocol, JARVIS and put the communication on screen. Tell Nat that I’m…I don’t know…in the shower.”

The large screen lowers out of the ceiling and flickers to life. James Barnes smiles brightly and Steve melts. “Colonel Barnes…”

“Please call me Bucky.”

And if it is possible, Steve melts a little more. He’d wondered yesterday why Tony had called him Bucky, but now he gets to as well. Gathering what little wits he has left, Steve clears his throat. “To what do I owe this pleasure, Bucky?” Steve finds that he really likes the way that name feels coming out of his mouth and wonders what it would sound like if…NOPE…he will not let his mind wander to _that_ place.

Bucky chuckles. “I thought it would be nice to talk to you one on one, although Tony probably knows that I’ve called.”

“I wouldn’t be so sure. I asked for Blackout.” Bucky seems surprised, but also pleased with that information.

“First Captain…”

“Steve…call me Steve, please.”

Bucky smiles, lowering his eyes and if Steve isn’t mistaken, he seems shy. “Steve,” and oh boy does Steve like the way that sounds. “I wanted to say again, thank you for going to check on Becca.”

“You don’t have to thank me, she’s really a special lady. They made me feel welcome as soon as I got there.” Steve watches the play of emotions across Bucky’s face and all of them are gentle in a way that most soldiers can’t muster. Then his face closes off and he sighs heavy enough for concern. “Buck, you okay?”

“Jesus, I can’t believe I did this.” Running his hands through his hair, he turns from the camera.

“Talk it through. What can’t you believe you did?” Steve sits on the sofa, hoping he’ll keep talking and not cut the communication.

“I can’t believe I made this call.” Bucky seems to be about to implode, but instead he starts rambling. “It just seemed like such a nice thing to do and then I kept thinking about it and you didn’t have to go see my sister, but you did and that made me want to talk to you more and you were so nice yesterday and the baby likes you and you cook and I couldn’t stop thinking about you and I’m…”

“Hey, hey, hey, Bucky…” The astronauts head shoots up and a look of realization comes across his face. The realization that he just said all of that out loud and he buries his face in his hands. 

“Oh my god! I’m a goddamn astronaut with two PhD’s and I just made an absolute fool out of myself.”

Steve has to get this situation out of Bucky’s lap and calm the man down. “It only makes you a fool if I’m one too. I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you since Christmas.” Bucky’s head shoots up, smiling. “Yeah, I mean if you really want me to embarrass myself, I could show you what I was sketching when you called.”

Now he’s smirking. “Yeah, I think that would make this fair.” Steve goes over and picks up the sketch pad, bringing it back over and turning it so the brunette can see it. “Holy shit, Steve! That’s incredible.” He reaches out like he’s trying to touch the sketch.

“I was thinking about giving it to Abbey. Wouldn’t want her to forget her uncle.” Steve’s turned the sketch so he can see it and doesn’t see the affect his words have had on the astronaut.

When he does look up, he’s blown away by the tears in the man’s eyes. “Are you really this nice?”

“I try to be. My ma, she kinda insisted that being kind was important.”

Steve and the team are called away on a mission. He’s gone for nearly two weeks and in that time, he can’t stop thinking about Bucky. He does his job and as always, he does it well, but in those rare moments of calm, Bucky’s face swims around in his mind. The sound of his voice, the way he gets soft when he talks about his family, the way he looks at Steve like he’s trying to figure him out. By the time he returns, he’s exhausted and filthy, but he cues up his messages and finds that at least every other day, he has a message from Bucky.

He takes a quick shower, waits for his food to arrive, and brings up the first message. “JARVIS, Blackout Protocol.”

“Hey Steve,” The super soldier stops chewing long enough to let a sappy grin settle on his face. “JARVIS told me the team got called out. I hope everything goes well and you come back with no injuries.” Bucky looks at the camera and sighs. “Sam and I were talking and this extended stay is more than either of us thought it would be. We’ve been up here since October and I really miss my family. Abbey’s going to be walking by the time I get back and since I’ve been here Becca was fitted for a prosthetic leg. I miss them. Don‘t get me wrong, I miss Ian too and I know he’s taking care of them, but I still feel like I’m missing too much.” He leans forward in his chair and Steve watches him rest his chin in his hand. “I miss you too and that’s not normal.” Sitting back, he waves at the screen and closes the message.

Steve sits back thinking that maybe Bucky didn’t mean to say that last part, but it makes Steve feel less like a creep because he feels the same. He has JARVIS open the next message. Bucky is grinning at the camera and his eyes seem a little glazed. “Steve…Stevie…Dmitri had vodka and Carol and I decided that since we’re off shift, we’d partake of said vodka.” Carol’s face comes into frame. “Carol, say hi to Stevie.”

Carol grins maniacally. “Stevie? Oh, you mean Captain Rogers.” She looks at the screen and winks. Steve knows that look, he’s seen that look on Natasha’s face before. Usually right before she does something that causes Clint to get hurt. “Colonel sir, why don’t you tell me again what you were saying earlier about Captain Rogers.” She looks at the camera again.

Bucky seems to be looking for something, but in his drunken state, he can’t find whatever it is. He also seems to have forgotten that he’s opened a message to Steve. “Oh yeah, so he went to see my sister and was soooo nice. Abbey loves him and I think I love him too.” Bucky disappears off frame and Steve hears a crash.

“Oh shit!” Carol disappears too then comes back a few minutes later, giggling. “Captain Rogers, I don’t know what you’ve done to this man, but he’s smiling more and sings to himself. I hope all goes well with the mission and when you see this you don’t hold it against him. I know you’re just trying to be nice, but he’s got a big gay crush on you. Let him down easy, okay?”

Steve sits for awhile, thinking about that. She doesn’t know and that means no one else up there knows. Most likely no one down here knows, except Becca. Cueing up the next message he sees the time stamp for the next day. Bucky looks rough, like put through the ringer and run over by a truck rough. “Hey Steve.” He’s got his head in his hands and won’t look at the camera. “You’ve been gone for all of a week and I’ve made a fool out of myself. Carol played the message I sent last night and I can’t apologize enough for that. You’ve been good to my family and you’ve become a friend to me, maybe, and I went and ruined that. I’m so sorry.”

The message ends and Steve’s first reaction is to get JARVIS to put in a call, but there are at least four more messages, so being the tactician that he is, he goes through the others, so he’s informed before placing the call. He knows he needs to sleep, but that’s not going to happen until he gets to the end of these messages. JARVIS pulls up the next one. The time stamp is two days later.

“Okay, so I tried not to send another one, but then I thought what the hell. I don’t know when you’ll be back or if you will even watch past the second one, but here goes. I was thinking about my time in the Air Force and the first time I went into combat. I don’t know why that popped into my head today, but it did. Up here it’s so silent. Don’t get me wrong, there’s noises and people, but when I go into one of the observation ports, it’s silent. I remember being on a mission, we weren’t supposed to be where we were, but when they give an order, we follow, ya know? Anyway, right before the air strike, I was taking a walk. I don’t know if you ever have to clear your head before going out, but I do. We were stationed near…well nevermind that, I was walking in the desert and it was like this, silent. As I was returning to my fighter, I heard the whistle and things around me started blowing up. Up here, when I’m in that silence, I can hear that whistle. I guess we all have some form of PTSD.” The screen goes black.

The next message comes up and the first thing that Steve notices is that Bucky looks like he hasn’t slept in awhile. “Hey Steve, one of the power cores on the new filtrations system went down. It took serious time to get it back up and running. Central Command is trying to convince the crew to put the old system back online, but we all agreed that this one is better.” He grins at the screen, but the dark circles under his eyes tell more about how big of a toll the whole thing is taking on Bucky. “I don’t know if Tony told you anything about this, but if we can get it integrated and online it will solve so many problems the station has had in the past.” He rubs his face with his hands. “I better get some rest. Take care of yourself out there, Steve.”

Steve closes his eyes and takes a deep breath. The next message starts. “Hey Captain.” It’s Sam and that has the hairs on the back of Steve’s neck rising. “Bucky did a spacewalk two days ago.” Steve pauses the message and looks at the time stamp. It’s been three days since the last message. He unpauses and lets it play. “He had an episode while he was out there. I shouldn’t say this, but he told me that you have all of this on Blackout, so hopefully you’ll keep this to yourself. It was an unplanned walk because of the new water/air filtration system. While he was outside, someone inside was doing an experiment. Anyway, something in one of the labs exploded, nothing serious and it was expected, but the sound in Bucky’s ear…well…you probably get the idea.” Sam doesn’t look well and probably hasn’t slept in a few nights. “Listen Steve, this doesn’t happen often, like it hasn’t happened in years, but by the time we got him back in and I was able to calm him down, we had to sedate him. He came to the next day and acted fine, but I know my friend and he’s covering.” Sam looks off to the side and nods. 

Carol comes into frame. “Hey Captain Rogers, I had to urge Sam to send this and I hope you understand why Colonel Barnes isn’t sending messages. Like all of us, when he has this happen, he feels ill-equipped to lead, but in truth, this is what makes him so good at it. He understands us. Sam and I served with the Colonel and he’s a great soldier and a really good man. If you don’t hear from him again, it wasn’t you.” The transmission ends there.

The next to last message is from yesterday. “hey Steve, I don’t know how to talk about this. If the higher ups find out about any of this, I’ll never be able to come up again. Sam told me that he and Carol contacted you, so I hope you understand why I didn’t send any messages.” Steve nods along like Bucky can see him. “I don’t know if you understand PTSD, but it’s a bitch.” Steve snorts. Of course he has PTSD and understands very well how that can affect a soldier. “They told ground control that I got sick from something we ate and that’s why I was out for a couple of days.” He looks tired and haggard. “I’ll be glad to come home.”

Steve sits back on the sofa, looking at the blank screen. More than anything, Steve wishes he was there or Bucky was here. He’d hold the man until he felt safe again. The last message starts up. “Hey, I’m sorry that Sam and Carol dumped on you. I’m sorry I did too. You didn’t sign up for that. Until I hear from you, I’m not going to send anymore messages. I’m not sure why I’m doing it now, but talking to you, even when you’re not there, helps. I don’t know what it helps, but it does help. I hope this thing you’re in the middle of is going okay. Come home safe, Steve.”

Steve takes his dishes into the kitchen, leaning on the counter. “JARVIS, open the channel to the ISS.”

‘Of course, Captain.’

The first face he sees is Sam. “Well looky here looky here, Captain America, the man with a plan, is calling the lowly normal soldiers.”

“Shut the fuck up Sam and put Bucky on.” Sam cackles all the way to the door.

It slides open and Sam calls into the other room. “Barnes, you gotta call in here.” The cackling continues when Bucky comes speeding into the room, sliding into the seat and grinning so big his face nearly doesn’t contain it.

“How are you? Did you get hurt? And don’t lie to me.” He’s looking expectantly at the screen and Steve laughs. It feels good to see Bucky’s face and even better to know that he’s worried about Steve.

“I didn’t get hurt. A couple of bruises, but Clint took the worst of it. We can’t take him anywhere that he doesn’t get hurt. He fell off a roof and into a dumpster, Bucky. A dumpster!” Bucky snorts a laugh and reaches up to touch the screen. Without thought, Steve stands, goes to the screen and matches his hand to Bucky’s. “I missed you.”

Time slows down and Steve knows that Bucky understands his meaning. The look that crosses his face is one of surprise and excitement. “Yeah?”

“Yeah, when you comin home, Buck?” Bucky blushes furiously and lowers his eyes.

“Not until February. You wanna have dinner with me when I get back?”

“I wanna have a lot of dinners with you when you come back.” Steve clears his throat. “Are you okay? And don’t lie to me.”

Bucky smirks at the turn of his own words. “Yeah, it was a rough week, but it’s better. I’m better.”

“I don’t want you to ever think that you can’t talk to me about anything. I understand PTSD.” He sits again and looks up at the screen. “Hell, I live with it every day.” Bucky gives him a soft smile. “Tell me what you did today?”

Bucky spends the next several minutes telling Steve about his day. Sam pops in every now and again, grinning behind Bucky’s back, until the Commander turns around the smacks him in the head. “I should probably go. We started up another section of the filtration system and if anything goes wrong, I’m the only one that knows how to fix it.”

“I should probably get some sleep. We got back not long ago.” Steve stands, stretching, but doesn’t miss the way Bucky’s eyes rake over the thin bit of skin that shows when his shirt rides up. He hopes that’s a good sign.

“You haven’t been to bed yet?”

Steve blushes. “I had messages that were more important.”

“Steve, are you flirting with me?”

“Not very well, but I’m trying.” Steve looks down at the floor then back up at Bucky through his long, eyelashes.

Bucky visibly flushes and clears his throat. “I think you’re doing just fine.”

Steve lays in bed that night, thinking about being able to touch Bucky: run his fingers through the man’s hair, hold his hand, kiss him. Rolling over, he punches the pillow next to him then imagines Bucky laying in bed with him. His dark hair against the pale sheets, his blues eyes opening up in the morning and smiling at Steve. Groaning, he rolls back over and lets himself drift into sleep, thinking about sparkling eyes and a beautiful smile.

The following day Steve heads to Brooklyn. Becca laughs when she opens the door and Abbey jumps towards Steve. “At least this time she doesn’t have a dirty diaper.”

Steve sways back and forth soothing the little girl. “I brought her something.” He hands the package over to Becca who leads them into the living room. 

Sitting on the sofa, she opens the package. “Oh Steve…this is…where did…” She looks at the signature. “Are you kidding? You did this?”

Steve has Abbey sitting on his legs, holding her hands and making faces at her. “Yeah, it’s nothing special, just a quick sketch.”

“IAN! Get in here. You have to see this.” The man comes in, sees Steve, and pulls out his phone.

He clicks several pictures. “All the guys at the office didn’t believe me when I told them. This time I have proof.” He comes to the sofa leaning over. “What’s up, honey?” He sees the sketch. “Holy Jesus, Mary and Joseph!”

“Steve did it for Abbey.” Becca has tears in her eyes and Ian leans over more to kiss her cheek.

Ian reaches over, placing a hand on Steve’s shoulder. “This is really nice of you, Steve.” Steve just shrugs.

“I brought something else too.” He pulls out a StarkPad and sets it up on the table. “JARVIS, place the call please.”

‘Of course, Captain.’

The screen flickers to life and Sam’s smiling face is on the screen. “Well now Captain America, we’re gettin kinda used to seeing your face around these parts.”

“Jesus Sam, when did you become a cowboy from the old west?” Steve’s grinning as wide as Sam.

“I’m just messin with ya man. What’s got you so happy?” Steve turns the screen so Sam can see Becca, Abbey, and Ian. “Well that’s a sight.” He turns from the screen. “Colonel, you’re going to want to take this call!”

Bucky comes into the room, leaning over Sam’s shoulder. Seeing Becca and Abbey, he tears up. “Becs? Wha…how?”

Becca doesn’t even try to hide the tears flowing down her cheeks. “Bucky…”

Abbey reaches towards the screen making grabby hands at Bucky. “B!”

That does it for Bucky and he’s in tears too. “Abbey, sweetheart, look at you.” Bucky smiles through the tears. “Ian, how are you?”

“Man, I’m good. It’s really good to see you.” Ian turns the screen just a little so Bucky can see Steve.

The man’s face goes soft. “Steve, you did this?”

Becca jumps in. “He’s quite the fella, Buck.”

Bucky’s eyes never leave Steve’s. “That he is.” Their conversation goes on and on. Abbey squeals and they all laugh. It comes to a close too soon, but Bucky has to get back to work. Becca nudges Ian after they say their goodbyes and the three get up and wander into the kitchen. It doesn’t stop Becca from leaning on the doorframe to eavesdrop on this developing situation.

“I hope I didn’t take you away from anything really important, but I thought, since I have access, that I would give you and Becca something special.” Steve is blushing as he speaks and Bucky just keeps looking at him like he’s everything special in the world.

“You have no idea how much this means to me. When I get back, I’m taking you to dinner and wooing the hell out of you.”

Steve laughs quietly. “You tellin me you’re going to court me, Buck?”

“You’re goddamn right I am!”

It’s two days before Steve hears from Bucky again. When the alert comes to his phone, he’s with Natasha and Clint. Jumping he heads towards the lift, but doesn’t make it before, “Hey, where are you going?”

Steve turns, stumbling over his words. “I…uh…there’s a thing. I forgot about it. It’s…well…it’s not here, so, I gotta…yeah…” He’s back on his floor in seconds. “JARVIS, Blackout please.”

He hears a beep, then his screen comes to life. Bucky’s beautiful face stares back at him with a big smile, including the crinkled nose that Steve’s come to really like seeing. “Hey Stevie.”

“Buck, is everything okay? I tried opening a communication yesterday, but JARVIS couldn’t get through.” Steve walks over placing his hand on the screen.

Bucky mimics the movement. “Yeah, everything’s fine. The filtration system gave us some trouble yesterday, but it turns out that one of the converts wasn’t aligned right.”

Steve laughs. “I have no idea what you just said, but it’s okay now?”

Bucky snorts and Steve loves that he made the astronaut laugh that hard. “Yeah, it’s fine now.” He puts his hand on the screen again and Steve matches the movement.

“You okay?” Something about the look on the man’s face is concerning.

“Steve, is this weird?” Steve starts to speak, but Bucky plows forward. “I just mean, we don’t really know each other, but…”

Taking a deep breath, Steve looks at the floor. “Yeah…but…” Steeling himself for the rejection that’s coming, he squares his shoulders and looks back at Bucky. “Listen, no one down here knows that I’m gay, it just never came up, so I never said anything. It was easy because no one really caught my attention until Christmas. Then you came on screen and my world got turned upside down.” Bucky starts to break in, but Steve puts his hand up. “The team gives me a hard time because I am old fashioned and I’m okay with that. I want to take you to dinner, maybe the cinema, walks and buy you flowers. I guess what I want it just to treat you the way I think you should be treated.” He chuckles to himself. “My ma told me once that she knew five minutes after meeting my da that he was the one. She didn’t waste her time with anyone else after that, she just knew. That’s how I feel about you.” Sighing, he realizes that he’s been looking at the ground, but can’t bring himself to look up. “I get it though. It’s not like you wouldn’t be seen and end up all over social media. It’s okay, Buck. I understand if….”

His eyes snap up when he hears, “Jesus Steve…” Bucky looks back at him with tears in his eyes. Wiping them away, he gives Steve a watery grin. “I was afraid I was the only one feeling that way and was giving you an out if you needed it, but I guess we’re both in this.”

“If February doesn’t hurry up and get here, I’m going to have Thor bring me up there.”

Bucky laughs so hard, he nearly starts crying again. Then abruptly stops. “Wait, he can do that?”

After the little episode in the common room, Natasha starts sticking close to Steve at all times. At times his phone will beep and he’ll try to excuse himself, but she keeps right on his heels. It’s been three days and he’s going out of his mind wanting to talk to Bucky. It comes to a head the evening of the third day.

Steve’s phone beeps while the team is watching a movie and Steve gets up to head to his floor. Natasha’s right there, but Steve turns at the lift, hands held up. Clint pauses the movie. Natasha smirks and it’s the one that Steve doesn’t like. “I know you think you’re being secretive, but we’ve all figured out that you have a girlfriend. Why don’t you just admit it, bring her over and we’ll be as nice as we can.”

Steve looks down at his phone again then up at her. He looks over her shoulder to Tony. He can’t really say why he thinks that Tony will be an ally, but he just knows. “I don’t have a girlfriend.” He hasn’t broken eye contact with Tony. “And I’d appreciate it if we could just leave it at that, but something tells me you’re not going to let it go.” He looks back at Nat, then back to Tony.

Tony stands, coming over to the pair. “Why don’t we just let Cap figure this all out and when he’s ready, he’ll let us in on this little secret he’s keeping.”

“I think it’s ridiculous that he won’t bring her to the Tower. It’s not like we’re going to interrogate her.” Nat smirks again and Clint snorts from the sofa.

“Well that’s the biggest lie you’ve ever told.” Steve looks over at Clint and the archer is smiling in a kind way. “You do you, Cap. Whenever you’re ready for us to meet her.”

Steve can’t really say what it is about this situation that’s annoying him. It may be that Natasha’s pushing, but nothing like she normally would. It may be that he knows she is lying and will in fact interrogate anyone he brought to meet the team. Maybe it’s that Bucky is now trying to contact him for the third time today and he can’t get away, but whatever the reason, he pinches the bridge of his nose and blurts out, “It’s not a woman. It’s a man. I’m gay and I really have to go take this call.” He storms into the lift, leaving the team gaping after him.

Back on his floor, he calls for Blackout Protocol and sits heavily on the sofa. The screen blinks to life and Bucky looks haggard. “Steve? Is everything okay? JARVIS didn’t say if you were on a mission, but did say something about you being in a difficult situation that you couldn’t get out of.”

Steve leans forward, face in his hands. “I just told the team that I’m gay and walked out.” He looks up at Bucky’s worried face. “I haven’t been able to take your calls because Nat wouldn’t leave me alone. She’s been following me like a puppy for days.”

“Baby, are you okay? What can I do to help?” Steve’s eyes go round as saucers and Bucky looks even more concerned.

“Can you call me baby again? That seems to be helping.” Bucky chuckles and Steve grins at him feeling all the tension melt away.

“You like that better than Stevie?” Bucky smirks and Steve turns into a puddle of goo.

“I like them both, but…” He blushes furiously.

Bucky leans in. “How about if I promise to call you Stevie in public and use baby when we’re alone?”

“Fuck…” They talk for awhile that night because it’s been days. Sam comes through with Carol a few times, wave at the screen, and continue doing whatever it is they were doing. It’s nearing one in the morning when they start to wind up the conversation. 

“You should go to bed. You never know when you’ll be called for a mission and I don’t want to be the reason you aren’t rested enough.” Bucky’s sitting with his chin in his hand, relaxed.

“I don’t want to end this call.” Bucky grins. “We have just over three weeks until you get home and it’s feels like forever.”

“I’ll be home before you know it. Just don’t let the team get you down. I don’t care what they think and after thinking about it, I don’t care what anyone thinks. When I get home, I’m taking you out and if we end up on social media, I don’t care.”

Steve comes very close to saying something he shouldn’t say to someone he’s only talked with. He swallows it down, but feels like it’s still showing on his face. Sleeping is troublesome that night because those three words are floating around in his head. He finally goes to sleep without telling JARVIS to cancel the Blackout. It’s midmorning when JARVIS wakes him.

‘Captain Rogers, sir?’

Steve rolls over, checking the clock. Sitting up, he rubs his eyes. “Yeah JARVIS, what’s going on?”

‘Sir would like to come up, but you have not released your floor from Blackout Protocol.’

“Oh shit, cancel Blackout JARVIS and let Tony up.” He gets out of bed and heads into the bathroom. When he comes out, Tony is standing in the living room with two cups of coffee from the café downstairs. “Morning Tony.”

Handing the second cup over, Tony clears his throat. “You walked out last night, after that bombshell, and all night Romanoff has been trying to break the Blackout security. I told her it was useless, but she wouldn’t listen.” Tony flops into the chair by the window. “She’d still be at it, but Fury called her in.”

Steve doesn’t really have the energy or the inclination to deal with all of this, so he sits and just stares at Tony. After a few minutes of the genius trying to puzzle things together, Steve finally speaks. “What do you want to know?”

In a very uncharacteristic move, Tony shrugs. “Whatever you want to tell me.” Steve leans forward, elbows on his knees, rolls the coffee cup between his hands, and sighs. “Listen Cap, we’ve built something pretty special here and not just a superhero team, but…well, kind of a family and I’d like to think that we all trust each other. You have to admit that this is big and I mean huge.”

“What? That Captain America is not what all of you expected him to be. He falls short of your expectations?”

“I don’t give a shit about Captain America. I do give a shit about Steve.” Tony gets up, sitting next to Steve on the sofa. “Why didn’t Steve ever tell me?”

“Because Steve was afraid it would change your opinion.”

Tony takes a sip, pointing at Steve around his cup. “Can you not talk about yourself in third person anymore, it’s weird.” Steve chuckles. “I don’t care that you’re gay, I care that you’re happy because we…I… give you a hard time about things, but this shouldn’t and won’t be one of them.” Steve nods, not trusting his voice. “Now, who is this guy because if he’s not good enough for you, I’m going to pay him off and find you someone better.”

That makes Steve laugh, really laugh. “It’s Bucky.”

Tony smirks and there’s no malice at all. “So, it wasn’t about talking to an astronaut, it was about talking to him.” Steve bobs his head. “You couldn’t have done better if I’d handpicked a guy.”

Three weeks and counting when the Avengers are called. There’s a mess in Eastern Europe involving weapons smuggling, terrorist bombings, and Hydra. The team suits up and heads out. Before going radio silent for a stealth entry, Steve has JARVIS send a message to Bucky. ‘Will be out of touch for awhile. Mission is a go. Miss you already.’ Again he struggles with those three words then throws caution to the wind and jumps in head first. ‘I love you.’

The Avengers, along with an army of SHIELD agents, fight around the clock for days. Taking many of the terrorists alive, Natasha uses her skills and finds out that this is one of many cells. With one taken down, the team heads off to destroy all of them. The second one is better prepared and the fighting goes on.

Using the shield to block one agent, Steve punches the next one, sending him flying. The team has been uncharacteristically quiet about Steve’s announcement that day in the common room, but in the middle of the fight with the second cell, Clint finally starts the banter.

“So, this guy, he as good looking as you, Cap?” Steve sighs, using the shield to knock a bad guy out.

Natasha, climbing the back of one while flinging herself over his head and into the next one, joins in. “We’ve been really good about not asking questions, but Clint’s right, he has to be at least a good looking as you are, Steve.”

Steve decides to play along. “You think I’m good looking, Nat?”

Clint starts laughing. “Cap -1; Widow -0.”

Tony takes a shot from Thor and turns the power on a group coming out of the forest surrounding the compound. “Are we really doing this now?”

There’s a scream from one of the leaders. “What better time is there?” Nat comes strolling back into the fight, recharging her Widow’s Bite.

The shield goes flying by Hulk, who grabs it and flings it back to Steve taking out about eight guys in the process. “Hulk need details.”

Thor lands with the hammer making contact with the ground and at least a dozen men go down. “I must admit, I am curious about the Captain’s shieldmate.”

Steve runs towards Hulk, who cups his hands together and throws Steve into a guard’s tower where he disarms and knocks out everyone. “Fine, it’s Colonel Barnes and he’s way better looking than I am.”

Wanda uproots a tree and hurls it at a tank, smashing it into bits. “Oh Steve, he’s dreamy.”

Tony snorts. “Did you just say dreamy?”

There’s silence for just a second when Steve sighs. “That he is.”

On their way to the fourth cell, somewhere in Turkey, Steve looks at the date and feels like his insides are bleeding out. Nat sees the look. “What’s up, Steve?”

He grasps the bulkhead, pulling the helmet from his head. “Bucky got home yesterday.”

Tony spins around in the pilot seat. “What? Why didn’t you tell us?”

Steve sits heavily on the bench. “I didn’t realize the date until now, we’ve been kinda busy.”

Tony flicks the autopilot and comes to sit next to his friend. “This is the last cell we have information on.” He looks up at the team. “We take this one with intense prejudice and get this man home.” Wanda practically bounces with excitement. Tony looks back at Steve, who seems to be awed by their enthusiasm. “What’s the call, Cap?”

Steve gives the orders and everyone suits up. When the jet lands, Tony is already in the air with Thor. Nat hits the ground running and before the cell can even figure out what’s happening, Wanda has ripped the doors from the warehouse. A jeep comes out the gaping hole with a howitzer mounted in back. “Ah, that’s cute. They think that’s going to help.” Clint is as sarcastic as Steve has ever heard him.

Hulk picks up the jeep and throws it on the roof of the adjoining building. “Hulk Smash!”

Nat laughs. “That’s right, Big Guy, you smash anything you want.” Hulk turns, grinning at her.

Fighting through the hordes that are running for their lives, Steve can’t help the grin on his own face. His team, his family is doing this for him, so he can get home to finally meet the man he loves in person. The fight doesn’t last that long and once the Hydra cell is contained, Tony has a word with the SHIELD commander and the team is back on board their jet headed home. “We are going to make a quick stop in Paris.”

Steve’s head shoots up to argue. “Tony…”

Tony throws Steve’s phone to him. “Check the date, Cap.”

Steve looks down, does the dateline calculation in his head on time and looks up, mouth hanging open. “Seriously?”

Bruce leans over his shoulder. “You gotta get him something special and Paris is the place to do that.”

“I don’t even know what to get him.”

Tony gets up to go back to the pilot seat. “I can tell you that two things he loves are coffee and chocolate.”

Nat gets up and for once the smirk is kind. “I happen to know of the best chocolatier in Paris and they have an espresso truffle that is ridiculous.”

Thor tosses the hammer, catching the handle. “But is not the tradition to give flowers?”

Wanda giggles. “Oh don’t worry, there are going to be flowers too.” Steve will never forget the look on the public’s faces when the Avengers land in the streets of Paris and go off to do some Valentine’s Day shopping. Tony buys enough chocolate for the whole team, Pepper, and a little to just have around. Steve buys everyone a coffee truffle, but saves the red box with a gold ribbon for Bucky. Tony squawks. “You’re giving him a box that looks like my suit? Come on Rogers, they have to have something more appropriate.”

The woman behind the counter laughs and takes the box to the back. When she brings the truffles back, it’s wrapped in blue and red. “Happy now, Iron Man?”

Tony claps Steve on the shoulder. “Much better.”

When they get back to the jet, the back is filled with enough flowers to open a florist. “Uh…guys?”

Wanda peeks out from behind one of the arrangements. “Too much?” Every kind of flower that Steve can imagine is represented. Clint pokes his head up from behind one of the vases. Wanda looks at him. “You said it wasn’t too much.”

Clint rolls his eyes. “Trust me, this isn’t too much.” He grins over at Steve and winks. Steve tries to figure out how he got this lucky.

The flight back doesn’t take as much time as it should because Tony is pushing the limits of the jet. Somewhere over the Atlantic, JARVIS cuts in. ‘Sir, there is a message for Captain Rogers that I’ve been holding until the mission was complete.’

“On screen JARVIS.”

The screen flickers between the pilot’s seat and the back of the jet. Bucky’s face smiles softly and Steve feels his insides melt. It’s obvious that he’s in Becca’s living room. “Hey Stevie. I got your message from JARVIS and I hope that you’re okay and the mission goes off with a hitch. Come home soon, yeah?” He starts to reach forward like he’s turning the screen off then looks back up. “Oh and I love you too.” The screen goes black.

Steve doesn’t react at first, then clears his throat and he looks at the flowers. “Definitely not too much.”

Tony lands the jet around the corner from Becca’s brownstone and each of the Avengers take as many floral arrangements as they can carry. Wanda floats the rest. Bruce knocks on the door and within seconds Becca opens the door. “Bucky! It’s for you!”

He comes running, sliding to a stop when he sees all of the Avengers, except the one that he really wants to see. “Colonel Barnes, we have a delivery for you.” Bruce grins, handing him the two bouquets his holding. Each one comes forward sitting more and more flowers on the stoop. Tony bro hugs him, winking. Thor is the last one and when he bends down to put the flowers his holding on the bottom step, Steve appears behind him grinning. The team steps aside allowing Steve to step forward. Bucky drops the flowers and throws himself from the top step, literally flinging himself into Steve’s arms.

Steve catches him, arms wrapped tightly around the man he’s been dreaming about for months. Bucky smells like everything Steve’s been missing in his life. Bucky smells like home. Steve releases him and Bucky slides to the ground, hands cupping Steve’s face. “I really want to kiss you, but I thought we’d be alone.”

“Don’t give a damn who’s watching.” Steve pulls him in by the hips and their first kiss is with the entire team, Becca, Ian holding Abbey, and numerous bystanders that wanted to see what the fuss is about. Pulling away, reluctantly, Steve whispers, “That was better than I thought it would be.”

Bucky chuckles. “That was just an appetizer. Wait til we really are alone.” He looks towards the team and sees the other people. “We’re definitely going to be on social media in about 10 minutes.”

Steve leans in, kissing Bucky again. “I don’t give a damn about that.” The team helps get all the flowers inside, then takes the jet back to the Tower. Steve goes inside with Bucky, carrying Abbey, who really likes the star on the front of his suit. “I really should get cleaned up. We came straight from the last battle.”

Becca takes Abbey and heads into the kitchen. “Instead of going out for Valentine’s day, we were all going to have a quiet dinner at home, so you go up and shower, Bucky has some clothes you can use and dinner will be ready by the time you come down.” She smirks at her brother. “Why don’t you go help Steve find everything he needs.” 

Bucky rolls his eyes. “You aren’t stealthy at all, little sister.”

“I wasn’t trying to be.” Ian snorts and follows his wife into the kitchen.

Bucky helps Steve strip out of his boots and top half of the suit, but makes a point to touch as much skin as he can while doing it. The undershirt does nothing to hide Steve’s muscles and Bucky kisses along his back and across his shoulder as he removes it. When he reaches around Steve’s waist to release the clasps for the pants, Steve’s hands stop him. “Steve?”

“Uh…so the suit isn’t conducive to boxers or even briefs.” Bucky can’t see his face, but he’s sure that Steve’s blushing.

“Okay?” He buries his face in between Steve’s shoulder blades and starts softly repeating, “please be wearing a jock please be wearing a jock.”

Steve chuckles nervously. “Yeah…that’s…” Bucky wastes no time undoing the pants after that and pulls the pants down Steve’s legs.

“Oh sweet jesus.” Steve doesn’t turn and his embarrassment is written on his skin in a near tomato red blush. He steps out of the pants, leaving them a bunch up mess. Seeing Steve in nothing but this makes Bucky say a quick thank you to whoever is in charge of everything. He tries really hard not to reach out, but fails miserably. Caressing his hands over Steve’s ass cheeks, he can feel his own breath speeding up. “Steve?” The other man hums in response. “You need any company in the shower?”

Steve turns and Bucky sees the evidence of Steve’s reaction to Bucky’s close proximity. “You’re overdressed for the shower, Buck.” He starts pulling his shirt over his head, when Steve stops him. “Are we really going to do this in your sister’s house?”

The shirt hits the floor. “You’re damn right we are. Then after dinner, we’re going back to the Tower and you’re going to fuck me into next week.” Steve drops the jockstrap to the floor. “Fuck, look at you.”

The rest of Bucky’s clothes hit the floor and he pulls Steve into the bathroom. The uniform that Steve always saw Bucky in on the ISS does nothing for what the man looks like in nothing. As the water warms, Steve reaches up, stroking a thumb over Bucky’s cheek. “I meant what I said before the mission. I do love you.”

“I meant what I said in my message. I love you too.”

A few days after Steve’s birthday, Bucky’s laying on the floor of the common room at the Tower with Abbey sitting on his stomach. They’ve become really concerned because the baby won’t walk. Dr. Cho had agreed to see her and run a few non-invasive tests to see if there’s a neurological problem. Becca and Ian will be in later, but for now Abbey’s giggling at something on the TV and Steve is on the sofa sketching her. Tony comes in, scooping her up and heading into the kitchen. “Hey! I was drawing her!”

Tony just cackles and the two men in the living room hear the giggle of a little girl thoroughly enjoying being the center of attention. It seems to Steve that Abbey has taken to the Avengers in a surprisingly open way. Instead of being shy or upset, she’s just snuggly and happy. Steve can hear Natasha in the kitchen cooing at the little girl.

“I made you a grilled cheese and Uncle Tony has some fruit. I bet you like blueberries, yeah?” Steve hears the clapping of tiny hands and a squeal.

“We’ve lost the baby, Buck.” Bucky hasn’t stopped staring at Steve and the super soldier blushes.

“We could leave her with the other grown-ups and go try to make another one.” Bucky waggles his eyebrows and Steve bursts with joyous laughter.

“That would be a neat trick considering.” Bucky rolls over onto his stomach, propping his face in his hands.

“You sayin you don’t wanna?” Steve slips off the sofa and onto the floor, crawling over to his boyfriend.

“I’m sayin no such thing.” Bucky rolls back over and Steve crawls over the top of him, laying down and kissing the living daylights out of the brunette. Lifting his head, he smiles down that the dazed look on Bucky’s face. “I love you.”

Just as Bucky’s about to speak, they hear Nat gasp from the kitchen. Both men get up quickly in case Abbey has hurt herself. What they see stops them in their tracks. Abbey is, very wobbly, walking back into the living room. Bucky kneels down, opening his arms. “Come to Uncle Buck, sweetheart.” She grins so wide with a little giggle and makes her way to Bucky. He scoops her up, spinning her around. “Your momma is going to be so pissed she missed this.” He doesn’t even try to hide the tears. 

JARVIS butts in. ‘I have already sent Mrs. Proctor the video. She has informed me that she and Mr. Proctor will be here within the hour.’

“You are a good man JARVIS because I don’t want to be in the doghouse for not filming it.” Bucky turns to see Steve, misty eyed and looking at Bucky with a look that isn’t familiar. “Steve?”

Steve clears his throat, swiping his hand across his mouth then waving it in a dismissive way. “Nothing, just…that was amazing.”

Tony catches the blond’s eyes knowing that something else is happening too. He takes Nat by the elbow and leads her away, winking at Steve. “Why do I feel like that’s not all of what just happened?” He carries Abbey back into the kitchen, putting her in the highchair, and giving her the grilled cheese and some fruit. She babbles at it for a few seconds, then starts eating. “You don’t gotta tell me Steve, but when you’re ready, I’m here.”

Bucky goes to the sink to wash the pan and Steve’s arms slip around his waist, blanketing Bucky in his warmth. Bucky starts to turn, but Steve holds him in position. “Don’t.” Bucky’s shoulders sag and he breathes deep. “When you picked her up I had a flash of you doing that with _our_ …baby.”

Bucky leans back into Steve more. “And that’s something you think you might want someday?”

Steve leans in, kissing up the astronaut’s neck, biting gently on the tender skin behind Bucky’s ear. “Very much as long as it’s with you.”

“There must be something wrong with me because I’m really turned on from this conversation.” Steve barks a laugh, turning Bucky and lifting him up to sit on the counter. Stepping between his legs, Bucky wraps them around Steve’s legs to keep him in place. “Tell me you love me.”

“I love you.”

Bucky smirks. “Tell me you’ll always love me.”

“I’ll love you until the stars go out.”

Bucky leans in, kissing Steve’s cheek. “Tell me there’ll be no one after me.”

“My eyes saw you and my heart was filled in a way that it never will be again.” Steve’s finger grazes down Bucky’s cheek.

As he kissed down Steve’s neck, he keeps talking. “Tell me I’m pretty.”

Steve huffs a quiet laugh. “Didn’t know that anyone could be as beautiful as you are.”

“Tell me you’ll draw me like one of your French girls.”

Steve sniggers. “If you mean naked, hell yeah, I’ll draw you like my only French _boy_.”

Bucky lets out what can only be called a giggle with his head resting on Steve’s shoulder. Then he leans back, locking eyes with Steve. Steve smirks waiting for the next order. “Tell me you’ll marry me?”


End file.
